Environmental pollution as well as energy scarcity has become a major problem in the present scenario. To alleviate this issue, among numerous techniques, photocatalytic pollutant degradation and alternative energy generation have turned out to be more competent and cost-effective. Thus, ample photocatalysts have been evolving to date, yet they have not been able to accomplish the intricacy. In this regard, a mixed-metal metal−organic framework (MOF)-derived Co/C/N−ZnO nanoflakes were engineered with Ni x P y cocatalyst in situ coupling. Typically, Co, C, and N were doped in the ZnO lattice through calcination of Co−Zn-MOF, which significantly narrowed the ZnO band gap. Further, the introduction of Ni x P y as a sturdy cocatalyst boosted the photon absorption capability in the visible region. Moreover, the presence of Co, C, N, and Ni−P constituents promoted tremendous charge carrier separation and transfer, which were established from photoluminescence (PL), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and electrochemical study, thereby leading to enhanced photocatalytic performance. Hence, altogether, these features collaborate to enhance the photocatalytic output of as-prepared composite materials toward norfloxocin (NFX) degradation and hydrogen (H 2 ) evolution. The NFX degradation rate for the optimized composite Co/C/N-ZNP-2 was detected as 91.2%, and the H 2 generation rate was found to be 15078 μmol h −1 g −1 , which were nearly two times higher than those of the neat Co/C/N−ZnO material, respectively. Consequently, the porous and nanoflake morphology accompanied by populous active sites as well as the existence of dopants and Ni x P y cocatalyst on Co/C/N−ZnO makes it an efficacious photocatalyst, which expedites the whole reaction mechanism approach toward pharmaceutical pollutant remediation and greenenergy generation.